"Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph. . ." Because this is such a familiar story to us, we almost skip right past the name Joseph, don’t we? But For Matthew’s first readers, they definitely would NOT have done that his name would have been so interesting!

Joseph! Like the Joseph of genesis, Jacob’s Son? Well, the Joseph of genesis had dreams, right? I wonder if Mary’s Joseph will have dreams as well? And the Joseph of Genesis went to Egypt, although it wasn’t exactly his plan. . . I wonder if Mary’s Joseph might end up in Egypt?

And the Joseph of Genesis was righteous…

Will’s Mary’s Joseph have similar qualities?

the Joseph of Genesis saved the world by listening to God’s instructions and saving bread for people to eat.

Will Mary’s Joseph somehow save “bread” and insure God’s people are nourished?